Story ID: 429
Elbit Systems debuts 'SkyStriker' loitering munition
By: Bill Carey
Caption: Elbit will also feature a new wide-area persistent surveillance system at this year's Paris Air Show.
Word Count: 290
Elbit Systems (Chalet 200) is debuting its new SkyStriker loitering munition and SkEye WAPS wide-area persistent surveillance system at this year’s Paris Air Show.

So far, Elbit has provided few advance details on SkyStriker, a rail-launched, fixed-wing, “fully autonomous” loitering munition it unveiled last fall. Fitted with a warhead and deployed from a mobile launcher, the aircraft provides military forces with the ability to observe and identify enemy targets before delivering a rapid-precision airstrike, the company said. “Its remote operation capability allows operators to remain unexposed to detection or enemy fire while guiding the LM to its target,” Elbit added.

The SkEye WAPS system, installed in different types of unmanned aircraft systems and light aircraft, persistently observes and records a wide area, making available a high-resolution picture and up to 80-square-km coverage of an area of interest to a large number of users, Elbit said.

The airborne segment of SkEye consists of an electro-optical sensor unit, an advanced image processing unit, a mass storage unit and analysis applications. Data is transmitted from the aircraft via an embedded data link to a fixed or mobile SkEye control and management center, which can be integrated with a user’s command and control system.

In another announcement, Elbit Systems of America said it was awarded a contract from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics to develop a cockpit display replacement for the F-35 Lightning II fighter.

The Technology Refresh 3, Panoramic Cockpit Display Unit contract complements existing content Elbit Systems of America has on the F-35 program, including power amplifiers, structures and sustainment support. Together with Rockwell Collins, Elbit also supplies the F-35 helmet-mounted display system through their joint venture, Rockwell Collins ESA Vision Systems.